Oranje fans take over Berlin city center ahead of quarter-final against Turkey

Oranje fans are taking over the center of Berlin, where the Dutch team will start their quarter-final against Turkey at the European Championship at 9 p.m. They are sitting on the German capital's many terraces and enjoying the beautiful weather. It will be around 30 degrees in Berlin on Saturday afternoon.

Many Dutch supporters traveled to Berlin on Friday evening. "When we had to fill up with petrol, a German man who was behind the counter asked if there were any Dutch people in the Netherlands," laughs Erik from Breda. "We drove here in a kind of orange procession. I only saw Dutch number plates."

Erik is sitting with friends on a terrace on Kurfürstendamm, Berlin's most famous boulevard. "Schade Deutschland, es ist alles vorbei" ("Too bad Germany, it's all over") the group of friends sings when a man wearing a shirt of the German national team walks by. Germany was eliminated by Spain in an exciting quarter-final on Friday evening.

Oranje fans can party from 2 p.m. in an Oranje Fanzone on the Hammarskjöldplatz. DJs Wipneus and Pim and artists Robert van Hemert and Joël Borelli will perform there. The now famous supporters' march to the Olympiastadion starts at 5 p.m. The KNVB expects around 40,000 Oranje supporters to come to Berlin for the quarter-final of the Dutch team in the European Championship. The football association has sold all 7,000 tickets for the match against the Turks.

It is not yet known how many fans have obtained tickets for the Dutch team's quarter-finals through other websites. Tickets are being offered on the black market for 500 euros and more. The Dutch fans are expected to be a large minority in the stadium. More than 2.5 million Turks live in Germany. Berlin alone has around 300,000 inhabitants with Turkish roots.

Traffic jams at the German border due to European Championship checks

All morning, motorists have been stuck in traffic at two locations heading towards Germany. The German police are conducting extra border controls in connection with the European Football Championship. The Netherlands will play the quarterfinals against Turkey in Berlin on Saturday evening.

The traffic jams are on the A12 from Arnhem towards the German border and the A76 between Heerlen and the border. According to the ANWB, both traffic jams cause a small delay, one fifteen minutes and the other about twenty minutes. The picture has been the same all morning. The traffic department does not expect the delay to increase.

According to the ANWB, there is little sign of any British fans driving to Düsseldorf on the road, as England will play Switzerland there at 6 p.m. The Dutch team will kick off at 9 p.m.